Welcome to the Mad in America podcast, a new weekly discussion that searches for the truth about psychiatric prescription drugs and mental health care worldwide.

This podcast is part of Mad in America’s mission to serve as a catalyst for rethinking psychiatric care. We believe that the current drug-based paradigm of care has failed our society and that scientific research, as well as the lived experience of those who have been diagnosed with a psychiatric disorder, calls for profound change.

On the podcast over the coming weeks, we will have interviews with experts and those with lived experience of the psychiatric system.

Thank you for joining us as we discuss the many issues around rethinking psychiatric care around the world.

Professor O’Loughlin is a college
professor and researcher at Adelphi University on Long Island. He
is a licensed psychologist and a psychoanalyst in private practice
in New Hyde Park, New York. Dr O’Loughlin writes critically about
the biomedical model of psychiatry and psychology and also has a
deep interest in psychiatric rights and social justice
issues.

In 2015 as an editor he launched
a book series entitled Psychoanalytic Studies: Clinical, Social,
and Cultural Contexts, with Lexington Books.

In August 2017, with colleagues
Dr. Awad Ibrahim (University of Ottawa), Dr, Gabrielle Ivinson
(Manchester Metropolitan University), and Dr. Marek Tesar
(University of Auckland), as series co-editors, he launched a book
series, Critical Childhood & Youth Studies: Clinical,
educational, social and cultural inquiry, to be published by
Lexington Books.

Professor O'Loughlin talks about
his childhood experiences and how they influenced his narrative and
conversational approach to psychological distress.

In this episode we
discuss

How Dr O’Loughlin’s early
experiences growing up in Ireland led to a deep interest in social
justice issues, particularly poverty and inequality.

That as a young man in college he
engaged in charity work and activism.

How, more recently, he became
interested in psychiatry when he was appointed as a lecturer in
clinical psychology, but realised that there weren’t required
courses on trauma or psychosis.

That this led to teaching courses
in intergenerational trauma and the way that our history shapes us
as people.

That Michael has engaged in
autobiographical writing to understand the way that deprivations
and injustices that he experienced had a formative impact on his
own thinking and writing.

That another course on madness
and psychosis was perceived by clinical psychology students as
radical, leading to a realisation that mainstream psychology is a
very conservative discipline.

How he became interested in
interviewing psychiatric patients and telling stories that
represented a diverse group of people and experiences of
psychiatric services.

That this led to a project at
Fountain House in New York City to see if narratives could be
reinforced and shared.

That Michael does not himself use
the terms mental illness or disorder because he feels that we need
to be flexible and that even this terminology can be
traumatising.

How he has recently focused on
creating spaces where participants can share their experiences and
stories and it shouldn’t be a classification or categorization
exercise.

That he has found many that have
experienced the psychiatric system have felt that the system
impeded their recovery.

That a collaborative team of
Adelphi academics, Fountain House staff and Fountain House members
will together publish research.

That Professor O’Loughlin feels
that psychology and psychiatry are traditional and reactive
disciplines and that psychiatry has been driven by pharmacological
concerns.

How Michael’s work with children
is grounded in his own childhood experiences and a sense that human
beings need nurturing spaces and validation.

That Michael is extremely
disturbed about the medicating young children with drugs that are
not known to be safe for them such as antipsychotic
drugs.

The unwillingness to understand
that a child's distress has an origin and that we have a
responsibility to engage with the child and create a space for them
to communicate.

How we define normality within
such a narrow range that children find it very difficult to conform
to society’s expectations.

That there seems to be little
room for a child in school, only room for a student.

That psychoanalysis has tools to
understand our emotions and experiences but also has tools to help
understand societal drivers that may underlie psychological
distress.

The worry that talking therapies
are being replaced by tick lists and categories and that we need to
bring stories back into psychology.

About the Podcast

Welcome to the Mad in America podcast, a new weekly discussion that searches for the truth about psychiatric prescription drugs and mental health care worldwide.
This podcast is part of Mad in America’s mission to serve as a catalyst for rethinking psychiatric care and mental health. We believe that the current drug-based paradigm of care has failed our society and that scientific research, as well as the lived experience of those who have been diagnosed with a psychiatric disorder, calls for profound change.
On the podcast over the coming weeks, we will have interviews with experts and those with lived experience of the psychiatric system. Thank you for joining us as we discuss the many issues around rethinking mental health around the world.
For more information visit madinamerica.com
To contact us email podcasts@madinamerica.com